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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing this scene, the Death Apostle instinctively wanted to run away, but I grabbed him and said to the child in front of me, "I'm not here to steal anything. I'm here on your mother's behalf to help you..."
Saying this surprised even me, but deep down, I knew this child must be the one from the photo, and the woman I encountered earlier had to be his mother.
The child listened, somewhat skeptical. He lowered his head and mumbled, "Mom said she would find someone to help, but how do I know you’re not lying to me..."
Hastily, I took out the photo and held it up in front of him. "Look, this is what your mother gave me."
He snatched the photo from my hand and stared at it silently, as if recalling something...
I exchanged a glance with the Death Apostle beside me; his face was filled with surprise, and his mouth was slightly agape as if he wanted to ask me something. However, he hesitated because of the child being present.
"Well? Uncle isn't lying to you, right?" I turned my head and probed cautiously.
"Then... where's my mom?" The child looked up at me, tears of blood streaming down his cheeks, accompanied by a slight sob.
I thought to myself, "I can't possibly tell him that I eliminated his mother. If I did, he would surely leap up and tear me apart."
With that thought in mind, I forced a smile. "Your mother is busy somewhere else. She asked me to tell you that as long as you give me these important things, I can help you both reunite." I waved the papers I had just received in front of him.
"Okay then..." The child said as he extended the paper in his hand towards me. Just as I reached out to take it, he suddenly pulled it back and asked again for confirmation, "You really aren't lying to me?!"
I nodded sincerely. "I swear; I'm truly here to help you!"
Seeing my earnest oath, the child finally handed the paper over to me.
On the paper, written in a childish hand, were the words: "The weather is nice today. Mom took Dad down from the iron frame because she wanted him to bask in the sun. But Dad has been on that frame for so long that he doesn't move anymore. The drawings Mom made on Dad with red pen have turned black. It's because they haven't seen the sun for too long. I hope Dad can turn back into the Dad he used to be after getting some sunlight."
The sentences felt somewhat strange, as if trying to convey something deeper. I continued reading the paper pressed under the cup: "The weather is bad today. Dad and Mom started fighting again. Dad drank a lot of adult drinks. He hit Mom and locked her and a stranger uncle in a room. When Mom came out, she seemed very unhappy, but that stranger uncle gave Dad a lot of money, so I can drink juice again. I'm really happy."
After finishing both pieces of writing, I felt a vague sense of understanding; I knew this was the clue I needed.
"Friend, did you write all of this?" I asked the child in front of me.
He nodded earnestly, "Yes, I wrote it all, but Dad doesn't let me write. I had written a lot before, but Dad tore them all up because he said my writing was bad..." The child lowered his head again, fiddling with the photo in his hands, looking very aggrieved.
I quickly patted his head and comforted him, "Actually, your writing is very good; it's just..."
Seeing that he was acknowledged, the child looked at me with hope: "Really?!"
I replied, "Yes, really. But besides these, is there anything else?"
"Yes, there's one more piece. I hid it because if Dad finds it, it won't be good... Come on, I'll take you there!" With that, the child turned and walked toward the door.
For some reason, as I watched his excited expression, I felt no joy at all; instead, there was a deep sense of loneliness and sadness.
"Have you figured anything out?" Death Apostle asked.
"Yes, things are becoming clearer now. We can already understand what this Cursed Realm is about. But let's first see what is written on that last piece of paper," I said.
With that, Li Zhisheng and I followed the child to a corner where a foul odor lingered.
"It's in the room over there. I had the cat help me hide it..." The child pointed toward the end of the hallway.
"What's wrong? Aren't you going in?" I asked.
The child shook his head. "The cat won't take a bath; it smells too bad. I don't want to play with it anymore, but it's still willing to help me."
A suspicion arose in my mind. "Could there be some trickery involved?"
"You see, Uncle doesn't know the cat either. What if the cat refuses to give the things to Uncle? Why don't you go with Uncle instead? If you can't get anything, it won't help you, right?"
Hearing this, the child had no choice but to agree.
He led us to a door at the end of the hallway. Even before opening it, the stench became increasingly overwhelming.
The child placed his hand on the doorknob and gently turned it. With a click, the door swung open.
Inside was yet another all-white room, but in the center lay a massive animal carcass, much larger than an adult human, covered in brown fur.
It lay silently on the ground, its belly cut open, with darkened entrails spilling out everywhere.
"This... is your cat?"
The child nodded. "The cat told me to hide things inside its belly, right there..." Following his finger, I could vaguely see a white object within the carcass's stomach.
I looked at the spilled entrails and swallowed hard. Reluctantly, but knowing I had no choice if I wanted to get out of here, I steeled myself for what lay ahead.
I tiptoed forward, rolled up my sleeves, and reached inside. My hand brushed against the internal organs, producing a nauseating sound. Fearing that the corpse might suddenly come to life and bite me, I hurried my search.
To my dismay, the more anxious I became, the less I could find that piece of paper. I muttered to myself, "I clearly saw it around here just now. Why can't I grab it?"
Just then, my hand suddenly felt something—the paper. I seized it and pulled it out.
Upon inspection, the paper was already smeared with foul-smelling slime from the earlier disturbance, dripping down as I held it.
Seeing that I had retrieved the item, I quickly stepped back to the door and asked, "Is this it?" The child nodded in affirmation.
I gently flicked off the slime from the paper, forcing myself to endure the choking stench as I focused on reading. I could vaguely make out the words: "Today is a nice day. Dad promised to take me to the park, but just as we stepped outside, we ran into some Bad Uncles. They took everything from our house and grabbed me and Dad too. If we don't pay them back, they'll kill me. I saw Dad looking very sad, so I told him I wasn't afraid to cheer him up a bit, but he still wasn't happy, and we didn't get to go to the park. Later, I wanted to play with the cat, but it ignored me too, and I felt unhappy."
"I see now; I understand," I said as I crouched down and asked the child, "Friend, thank you! Can you tell me where your dad is now?"
The child beamed at my gratitude; it seemed no one had ever thanked him before. However, when he heard that I wanted to find his dad, his expression darkened again. He whispered, "I know where he is, but why do you want to find him?"
I replied, "You see, now that Uncle knows what the problem is with your family, he's going to talk to your dad so that your family can be reunited."
"Okay! I'll take you to him right now; follow me..." The child said excitedly and bounced out of the house.
I followed closely behind Death Apostle. "Now that we have all the clues gathered, can you tell me what's really going on?" Death Apostle asked quietly.
I glanced at the child leading us; he seemed completely oblivious to Death Apostle's question. I continued speaking: "Earlier you mentioned emotions; that made me think of what we've encountered on these three floors. Excluding the underground parking level, what we've faced on the subsequent three floors likely represents different emotions and states of mind created by the Cursed Realm's creator under various circumstances."
After pondering for a moment, I added, "As for this whole situation, it's already quite clear in this child's diary..." With that, I handed over the three pieces of paper in my hand to Death Apostle. "The sequence of events should be like this: This child's father fell into debt for some reason and was forced to let his wife sell her body to repay it. Eventually, his wife couldn't endure her husband's abuse any longer and was tortured to death."
"The wife initially thought that killing him would put an end to everything, but she never expected that her husband's death would inadvertently create a Cursed Realm. Due to the accumulation of resentment over the years, this Cursed Realm gained such power. After her husband died, she intended to kill the child and then commit suicide, but unexpectedly, after her suicide, she was dragged into the Cursed Realm created by her husband. This detail is not mentioned in the diary, but look..."
I pointed to the child walking ahead, noticing a distinct indentation on the back of his head, clearly caused by a blunt object. "The latter part is my personal speculation; whether it's true or not cannot be verified..."
Before I could finish, the Death Apostle waved his hand to interrupt me. "No, there's something that doesn't add up here. The diary mentions they once had a home, but no one has ever lived in this Moutai Building according to rumors. Why would the Cursed Realm appear here? Moreover, it seems this Cursed Realm is somehow connected to this building, most notably with that elevator."
"Yes, you have a point..." I fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, the child leading us exclaimed, "Wait! There used to be a road here; why is it gone now?"
Hearing this, I looked up and saw that at the end of the path was a wall, completely blocking the entrance. A few torches lay scattered on the ground beside it.
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